Basque card game · Docks de Biarritz
Around thirty teams upstairs, a group stage, a main final and a consolation one. Mus is played in pairs, the bidding is done in Basque, and the day ends behind the decks.
Dates
We run a mus tournament roughly once a quarter. As soon as a date is set, it shows up here.
No date has been announced yet. The next edition will be added here and to the site’s agenda as soon as it is announced.
The game
Mus is played four-handed, two against two, with a Spanish deck of forty cards. Each leg is won at forty points, each game at the best of three legs. Points aren’t written down: you count them with markers laid out in the middle of the table, and they are called ttanttos.
The mats are ours, made for the pub. It’s a small thing, but it says best what place mus holds here: not a game you bring out when it rains, but a fixture you prepare for.
The tournament
Three things to know before entering your team.
01 · The teams
You enter as a team of two. Recent editions have drawn around thirty pairs, 32 more often than not — enough to fill the upstairs room for the day.
02 · The format
Group stage first, then the finals. A main bracket for those who qualify, a consolation one for everybody else: nobody goes home after two games.
03 · The day
Tables are set from early afternoon. A buffet is on the house to keep you going between games, and the day ends behind the decks. Prizes go to the winning team and to the runners-up.
Before you come
Let’s be straight about it: mus can’t be improvised. The bidding is done in Basque, and a pair discovering the game on tournament day would miss out entirely. You don’t need to be a champion, but you do need to have been taught.
What you’ll hear at the table: mus to ask for new cards, imido to open, tira to let it go, iduki to freeze the bidding — and hordago, which puts the whole leg on the line in a single word. The phases are called haundia, tipia, pariak, jokua and pundia.
Then there’s what no rulebook covers: partners pass each other signs. Biting your lower lip for two kings, sticking your tongue out for two aces. That’s why mus isn’t learned from a web page — it’s handed down, at a table, by someone who knows.
If you want the rules in detail, the French Mus Federation introduces the game on its website.
Discover the gamePractical
Mus is played upstairs, away from the noise, while the pub lives on below. A short walk from the train station and the motorway exit, with free parking right nearby.
Frequently asked
And if your question isn’t here, just write to us.
Message us on WhatsApp to reserve your team’s place at the next edition.
